Slab properties is the name of the game at the moment. Treat any snow that feels hard or slabby with caution.
The wind direction has varied, meaning wind slabs may be found on all aspects in wind-exposed terrain. Assess for slabs before committing to high consequence terrain.
Various weak layers exist in the top metre of the snowpack. These layers could be triggered by riders anywhere a hard slab of snow exists above them. Where the snow remains soft, the likelihood of triggering a slab avalanche is low.
Wind slabs were observed in alpine terrain on all aspects on Tuesday.
On Monday, riders triggered small storm slab avalanches within the recent storm snow. They were 20 cm deep at treeline on northerly aspects. These add to the many small to large (size 1 to 2) slabs observed on the weekend, on all aspects and elevations.
Similar avalanches remain triggerable by humans anywhere a hard, consolidated slab of snow rests on weak layers. Read more about this problem here.
Around 30 to 50 cm of snow accumulated since last Friday. This snow has been redistributed by strong wind from various directions at higher elevations but it remains soft in wind-sheltered terrain. The snow overlies various layers that it may not bond well to, including faceted grains, surface hoar crystals in wind-sheltered openings, and a hard melt-freeze crust on sun-exposed slopes.
The middle to upper portion of the snowpack between approximately 60 and 120 cm is relatively weak with numerous other layers of faceted grains, surface hoar, and/or crusts that formed over the month of January.
The lower snowpack is strong.
Tuesday Night
Clear skies. 10 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -22 °C.
Wednesday
Clear skies. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -20 °C.
Thursday
Partly cloudy. 10 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.
Friday
Partly cloudy. 10 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
